Friday, May 04, 2007

Scary, scary, scary

For the record, the three who raised their hands were Senator Sam Brownback, Governor Mike Huckabee and Representative Tom Tancredo.

I rarely talk politics on my blog. I'm guessing most who read this blog have at least a general idea of my leanings WRT American politics. :)
I was not extremely politically active in Canada before we moved here. I am not very politically active here since I cannot vote, and will not be able to for many years yet. Yet I enjoy a good, well reasoned political discussion. I genuinely am interested in how people can hold viewpoints that are so alien to my own beliefs. And what they find most important about them. And why they hold them. Some discussions *have* changed how I view certain issues.

But one thing I cannot grasp is how big of an issue evolution is here in the US. I am a scientist. A VERY logical, rational human being. I have my own, personal beliefs WRT the existance of 'God'.

{Exuse the shouting}


How can someone be an honest, well educated, intelligent person and yet choose to ignore something that has been scientifically and rigorously proven? Note that I am NOT saying that God does not exist. Nor to I believe that the facts of evolutionary processes prove that God does not exist. The two to me are completely separate spheres of discussion.

I spent a number of years very interested in fossils and the fossil record. (For something really interesting, google "the Burgess Shale" and see some really cool examples of what has been found.) I studied quite extensively in the field, and completed the first two years of a geology degree, majoring in paleontology (the study of fossils) before switching to physics so I could have a job that would actually pay me to go to work. :P

Please, if someone can explain to me this to me, I'd like a better understanding of the thought processes involved. I am genuinely trying to understand something that is completely outside my sphere of cognizance. I will be turning on comment moderation on this post as it is such a divisive topic, but I promise to approve all polite comments. Can anyone out there help me get this?


Joanna said...

*twitch* I can't understand it either. And I don't think evolution is at all incompatible with belief in God. At least that made it even easier to narrow the field of candidates down *wry*. Those three were off my list before this, but sheesh...

xxx said...

Also sitting on the outside of the American political arena, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who thinks this is an insane topic.

But, then again, "people" -- whether they be Americans, Canadians, or anyone else -- have the great ability to completely ignore anything that goes against exactly how they want to interpret their own religion, especially en-mass.

I think everyone who wants to take up an "absolute" stance in one respect or another over evolution/creationism should be forced to sit in a seat and read Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality, in particular the last book And Eternity. They all deal with reconciling differing religious and scientific beliefs, but the last one tackles evolution & creationism in particular.

Who is to say that God was not the mastermind behind evolution? Personally, I think it is pretty "miraculous" that we evolved (along with every other species on the planet) from random proteins and amino acids. Just because it didn't take "six days" as we understand "days" to be doesn't mean that it wasn't the work of God.

Just because we are slowly beginning to understand the mechanics behind evolution and, even greater still, how our world and universe was formed does not mean that we are any closer to being on the level of God, or able to reproduce any of it.

And besides... if God created us, and God guides us, then doesn't it fit that God has allowed us the ability to understand science, and to learn about evolution, and about how He/She/It created this grand universe in the first place?

Teach THAT in your schools!